[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 92 (Monday, July 11, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1449]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING FRANK T. MAZIARSKI, CRNA, MS, CLNC PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN 
                   ASSOCIATION OF NURSE ANESTHETISTS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JAY INSLEE

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 11, 2005

  Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, today I pay tribute to an outstanding 
representative from the 1st District of the great State of Washington, 
Frank Maziarski, CRNA, MS, CLNC. Mr. Maziarski will soon complete his 
year as national president of the American Association of Nurse 
Anesthetists (AANA). I am very pleased that this son of Washington was 
tapped as the 2004-2005 president of this prestigious national 
organization, and I am honored to count him as one of my constituents.
  The AANA is the professional organization that represents more than 
33,000 practicing Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs). 
Founded in 1931, the AANA is the professional association representing 
CRNAs nationwide. As you may know, CRNAs are anesthesia professionals 
who administer approximately 65 percent of all anesthetics given to 
patients each year in the United States. They work in every setting in 
which anesthesia is delivered including hospital surgical suites and 
obstetrical delivery rooms, ambulatory surgical centers, and the 
offices of dentists, podiatrists, and plastic surgeons.
  CRNAs provide anesthesia for all types of surgical cases and, in some 
states, are the sole anesthesia providers in approximately 70 percent 
of all rural hospitals, affording these medical facilities obstetrical, 
surgical and trauma stabilization services.
  Mr. Maziarski earned his Master of Science (MS) degree and his 
Bachelors of Science degree in nursing (BSN) from the University of 
Nebraska at Omaha. He was educated in the art and science of Nurse 
Anesthesia at the Albany Medical Center, School of Nurse Anesthesia, 
Albany, NY. He spent 21 years as an officer in the U.S. Army Nurse 
Corps, first as an anesthesia provider and then as an educator in the 
Academy of Health Sciences Schools of Nurse Anesthesia and was a 
Director of the Phase I (clinical) and also a Director of Phase II 
(academic) portions of the Nurse Anesthesia programs. He retired as a 
Lieutenant Colonel at Beaumont Army Medical Center, El Paso, Texas. He 
also spent one year as Chief Nurse Anesthetist of the 93rd Evac. 
Hospital, in Long Binh, Viet Nam during July, 1968-July, 1969. He is 
currently a practicing nurse anesthetist and owner of Allied Anesthesia 
Associates, which provides anesthesia services in and around the 
Shoreline, Washington area, in my congressional district.
  Mr. Maziarski has held various leadership positions in the AANA as 
President-Elect, Vice-President, and Regional Director before becoming 
the National President of the AANA in 2004. In addition, Frank has 
served terms as President, President-Elect, Vice-President, Treasurer, 
and as a Member of the Board of Directors for the Washington 
Association of Nurse Anesthetists (WANA). He was also appointed by 
Governor Gary Locke to the Washington State Nursing Care Quality 
Assurance Commission from 1997-2004 and was elected as its chair twice 
during his tenure.
  Adding to his professional accomplishments, Mr. Maziarski has been 
recognized for both publishing and speaking on anesthesia-related 
topics over the years. He has taken his experience and knowledge from 
the workplace and AANA leadership roles to lecture on political and 
academic anesthesia related topics before different professional 
groups. During his AANA Presidency, Mr. Maziarski has played important 
roles in advocating for the practice of nurse anesthesia and its 
patients before Medicare and other Federal agencies, promoted 
anesthesia patient safety through vigorous participation in the 
interdisciplinary National Quality Forum (NQF), and advanced principles 
of wellness among practitioners in this high-stress profession. In 
addition, Mr. Maziarski directed that the AANA be represented before 
three key subcommittees of this Congress, in which members of this 
organization testified about the importance of nurse anesthesia 
education, the roles and contributions of CRNAs in the Veterans' 
Affairs health system, and the dedication with which CRNAs have 
provided safe anesthesia care to members of the U.S. Armed Forces at 
home and abroad.
  It is my understanding that under Mr. Maziarski's leadership, the 
AANA continued to foster an important line of communication with the 
American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). While these organizations 
of anesthesia professionals have not always seen eye-to-eye, both the 
AANA and ASA are working to ensure the safe administration of powerful 
anesthesia drugs, and have shared interest in patients' safe access to 
anesthesia care with respect to Medicare regulations governing locked 
anesthesia carts. These two societies' professional working 
relationship may not have been possible without the continued 
initiative of AANA President Maziarski and his ASA counterpart.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me today in recognizing Mr. 
Frank Maziarski, CRNA, MS, CLNC, for his notable career and outstanding 
achievements.

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